Talking with the patient

How to do a brief alcohol intervention

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.

MD / DOPANursing (NCLEX)EMS (NREMT)
Practice it in VR with Blocky

A short, respectful talk about drinking can reduce risky use. It takes only a few minutes and works in many settings.

Step by step

  1. Ask permission and screen

    Use a tool such as AUDIT-C, or ask how many times in the past year they had 5 or more drinks in a day (4 for women). [1]

  2. Give feedback

    Share the results and compare them with low-risk limits, without judgment. [1]

  3. Explore pros and cons

    Ask what they like about drinking and what worries them about it. [1]

  4. Check readiness

    Ask them to rate from 0 to 10 how ready they are to cut down, and why they did not pick a lower number. [1]

  5. Agree a goal

    Let the patient choose the goal, such as fewer drinking days. Offer a menu of options. [1]

  6. Watch for dependence

    Heavy daily use or signs of withdrawal need referral and may need medicines such as naltrexone. [2]

  7. Plan follow-up

    Summarize the plan, check understanding and set a check-in. [3]

Common errors

Practice it in VMS

In VMS you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.

VMS cases that train this skill

7 VMS cases train this skill: open the case library

Sources

  1. AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs)
  2. Open RN, Nursing Pharmacology 2e (CC BY 4.0)
  3. AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit (Teach-Back)

Facts and steps follow AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs); AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit (Teach-Back). VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.